Fall guy

He was “the class clown of clowns,” feigning an injury by tripping in the classroom, limping, and, when the teacher became all concerned, winking at his fellow students.

Out of school, he once (actually, twice) jumped off the bridge over Lake Quinsigamond as part of stunt while trying to make a movie with some friends. The problem was that an outside observer thought there was no clowning or stunt or filming going on — but a suicide. The police were called. After all, who in his right mind would jump off the bridge? The incident made the newspaper the next day.

“I think my dad was a bit upset about that,” recalled Jim Ford, who acknowledged the danger of the jump into very shallow water littered with shopping carts. (Don’t try this at home.)

Then there was the time he tried to climb the “Green Monster” left field wall at Fenway Park …

A little more about that later.

First, let’s go back to the time when West Boylston native Ford realized that doing stunts wasn’t just for fun. Appropriately enough he was in stunt school. The International Stunt School in Seattle, Wash., to be precise. And standing 65 feet high on a building and looking down, Ford realized he had better be precise. He was about to jump off. “I had to stop for a second. I thought, ‘You could die here.’ ”

Obviously, however, all was well that ended well. It was, after all, a very alive and well and humorous Ford who was talking while making a return visit to West Boylston just before he was scheduled to start filming in New York City this week as a stunt/body double for star Ed Norton in the movie “Pride and Glory.”

As Norton’s character in what Ford said was a crime-thriller film about a family of New York cops (Norton’s co-star is Colin Farrell), he said he’s likely to shoot “a couple of the fight scenes, chase scenes — whatever they need.”

Norton, 24, is now based in New York City and is building up his resume as a stuntman and actor after graduating not only from stunt school but the prestigious drama program of the Hartt School at the University of Hartford.

His ultimate dream is to be a movie action hero.

“Ever since I was a little kid I wanted to be an action hero,” Ford said. “I would definitely like to be someone who does his own stunts. I want to be an actor and a stuntman, too. The best of both worlds.”

But Ford did not seriously think about acting until his senior year at St. John’s High School in Shrewsbury. Ford acknowledged that as a student (he also attended the Bancroft School in Worcester), “I couldn’t sit still.” As the class clown, “I took it further than imitating the teacher.”

Then he discovered a class that he looked forward to. Furthermore, “I wasn’t getting into trouble.” It was a theater class. When auditions for a school production of “Romeo and Juliet” were announced, Ford tried out. To his surprise, he was cast as Romeo.

“It was great. There were a lot of lines, and a lot of fight scenes, too. I really got into it. I did another play. I said, ‘You know what? I can’t get a real job. I’d go crazy or get arrested. I’m gonna go into acting.’ ”

Ford didn’t get arrested for jumping into Lake Quinsigamond, but the Fenway Park caper was another matter.

“I wanted to climb the left field wall,” he said. It was the 7th inning stretch and the Red Sox were losing, so he figured he would not be disrupting the team’s concentration. He also figured that if he could jump high enough he could reach a ladder that scaled down the Green Monster. “I ran out, jumped, and missed the ladder,” he said. Ford spent the night in jail.

The next morning, the judge apparently took a rather lenient view of things. “I was in court standing next to a guy who had robbed a liquor store.” Trying to climb a wall seemed harmless in comparison.

In any event, Ford was accepted into the Hartt School and also found himself acing another audition — for the part of Howie the Hawk as the mascot of the University of Hartford basketball team.

One of his teachers at the Hartt School was a “fight master,” trained in the art of staging fights and stunts. Recognizing Ford’s ability, dexterity and interest in this particular speciality, he recommended him to the International Stunt School’s summer program after his freshman year.

“I was thinking, this is gonna be just as cool as summer camp,” Ford said. On arrival, “There were people from all over the world. The stories just didn’t stop.”

Once school started, however, “It was very serious. It was very disciplined. We were jumping off buildings.”

On the ground there were air mattresses. “But at 65 feet high the term postage stamp comes pretty close,” Ford said. “The wind could move you one way or another. If you have nerves you could jump too far and miss.”

He made his jumps. “I think what separates a stuntman — you don’t spend too much time thinking what can go wrong, you think how do you do it right.”

And you have to remember that you’re acting.

“You have to sell the dive. Is it a suicide dive or was the character pushed? They want big motions with arms and legs.”

After graduating from the Hartt School, Ford said he auditioned for anything he could get.

One tryout was for a pending indie movie called “Black Eyed Girl.” Stunt school helped get him cast because there were “some serious stunts in the movie.” He spent two weeks filming on Martha’s Vineyard. “It was the best two weeks ever,” Ford said. “Chase scenes, fights, dives and rolls. Diving out of moving vehicles. Jumping onto cruise ships.”

He has a role in the horror movie “Knock Knock” and also Julie Taymor’s upcoming “Across the Universe.” In the latter there is a “quintessential” scene from a football game where the player is seen, slow motion, making the big play. Ford is the man.

He’s also filmed pilots for MTV and made commercials. “Whenever I’m on the set I’m talking to everyone I can,” he said.

It was on one such set that he heard famed stunt specialist Peter Bucossi was hiring for the Ed Norton movie “Pride and Glory.” Ford sent Bucossi a head shot of himself plus a resume. He didn’t hear back so he sent Bucossi another photograph.

“A week later I got a phone call. A voice mail message, actually.” It was Bucossi saying, “ ‘You kind of look like Ed Norton …’ ” Bucossi asked Ford to show up on the film’s set so he and the crew could “take a look.”

“Everyone had to eyeball me up and down,” Ford said. “I got checked out and checked out. Then they took more specific measurements.”

It turned out that Ford and Norton are the same height – 6 feet, 1 inch.

Now there was just one more matter to take care of before filming his/Norton’s scenes.